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Sibiu - European Cultural Capital, 2007 (memories)
Sibiu is one of the most important 7 cities founded by German settlers at the beginning of the 2nd Milennium, around 1100. (here is a more detailed story of the German settlers in Transylvania).
Its "old town" is one of the largest and best preserved medieval city centers in Romania, and was recently restored and fancied up for the big year 2007.
The entrance to the old town is dominated by the high Protestant church tower.
Defense walls surrounding the city have been integrated, at least on this part, into the urban landscape, once the city expanded beyond its initial walled-in limits
Once up at the gate, a look back down is worthwile
Once inside the old walls, we bump into a group of artists preparing a medieval theatre performance
We leave them to their business and move along, below arcades
into a small square
where we find another group of... ahm.. long-legged ladies awaiting their colleagues, while being amusedly checked out by passers-by
Giving in to the King Kong syndrome, I climb the tallest accessible point, in this case the white tower two pictures ago, for a view of the city roofs
the main square
and the church district
Back down, entering the "Grand Square" ("Piata Mare")
It has a legend behind it - it is said that a peasant claimed a piece of land, and the local landlord, wanting to make fun of him, told him "i will give you as much land as you can cover with the skin of your two oxen. (cattle were crucial to a peasant's life - no cattle, no work, no food). So the peasant agreed, then killed the oxen, cut their skin in thin stripes and made a big circle around what today is the Grand Square. The nobleman apparently held his word and gave the peasant the land.
Anyway, today it is the core
of the city life
I have no idea what those red blocks were about, but they sure look cool. I think they were supposed to be part of an outdoor art/design exhibition.
Going through the main square, you quickly reach the old town limits
and a more independently and impressively preserved part of the former defense system, with tower,
wall, and all.
Given the fact that a storm was gathering momentum above the city roofs,
time to make our way back towards along the walls, towards and then beneath the Bridge of Lies, visible in the back
Legend says that if you tell a lie while on the bridge, it might collapse. A follow-up on that tells that in the middle ages, if traders in the Small Square were cheating on the locals, and they found out, they used to come back, catch the cheaters and throw them off the bridge.
Avoiding even to think of a lie, this is where we leave Sibiu.
Its "old town" is one of the largest and best preserved medieval city centers in Romania, and was recently restored and fancied up for the big year 2007.
The entrance to the old town is dominated by the high Protestant church tower.
Defense walls surrounding the city have been integrated, at least on this part, into the urban landscape, once the city expanded beyond its initial walled-in limits
Once up at the gate, a look back down is worthwile
Once inside the old walls, we bump into a group of artists preparing a medieval theatre performance
We leave them to their business and move along, below arcades
into a small square
where we find another group of... ahm.. long-legged ladies awaiting their colleagues, while being amusedly checked out by passers-by
Giving in to the King Kong syndrome, I climb the tallest accessible point, in this case the white tower two pictures ago, for a view of the city roofs
the main square
and the church district
Back down, entering the "Grand Square" ("Piata Mare")
It has a legend behind it - it is said that a peasant claimed a piece of land, and the local landlord, wanting to make fun of him, told him "i will give you as much land as you can cover with the skin of your two oxen. (cattle were crucial to a peasant's life - no cattle, no work, no food). So the peasant agreed, then killed the oxen, cut their skin in thin stripes and made a big circle around what today is the Grand Square. The nobleman apparently held his word and gave the peasant the land.
Anyway, today it is the core
of the city life
I have no idea what those red blocks were about, but they sure look cool. I think they were supposed to be part of an outdoor art/design exhibition.
Going through the main square, you quickly reach the old town limits
and a more independently and impressively preserved part of the former defense system, with tower,
wall, and all.
Given the fact that a storm was gathering momentum above the city roofs,
time to make our way back towards along the walls, towards and then beneath the Bridge of Lies, visible in the back
Legend says that if you tell a lie while on the bridge, it might collapse. A follow-up on that tells that in the middle ages, if traders in the Small Square were cheating on the locals, and they found out, they used to come back, catch the cheaters and throw them off the bridge.
Avoiding even to think of a lie, this is where we leave Sibiu.
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hi,
thanks for the visit and question
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